1. Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway.

2. “Vacation” means going to Moncton for the weekend.

3. You measure distance in hours.

4. You know several people who have hit a deer.

5. You often switch from “Heat” to “A/C” in the same day.

6. You use a down filled comforter in the summer.

7. Your Grandparents drive 100km/h through 13 feet of snow during raging blizzard without flinching.

8. You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events.

9. You install security lights on both your house and garage then go and leave both unlocked.

10. You think of the major food groups as: Meat, Fish and Tim Hortons.

11. You carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them.

12. There are seven empty cars running in the parking lot of the Canadian Tire store at any given time.

13. You design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.

14. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.

15. Your lingerie consists of tube socks and flannel pyjamas.

16. You know all 4 seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter, and Construction.

17. It takes three hours to go to the store for one item, even when you’re in a hurry because you have to stop and talk to everybody in town.

18. You actually understand these jokes and forward them to all your friends from the Maritimes.

There are a lot of words being thrown around the community these days. Andrew Oland is one such recipient of these words. Let me attempt to explain. Andrew was a member of a task group that was setup to gather input and create recommendations regarding post-secondary education in Saint John. These recommendations were then handed off to a commission who’s job was to take the input of all the task groups and create a report for the provincial government.

This final report contained some controversial recommendations, and it is for this reason that people are starting to go out of their way to discredit Andrew. But why you might ask? Simply because they lash out at anyone involved in the report - no matter what they actually recommended.

The fact is Andrew’s task group recommended expanding UNB-SJ, moving NBCC-SJ to Tucker Park, creating a single president and board of directors to manage the two independent institutions, and to increase the number of education options offered at the two campuses. Notice that I never once mentioned downgrading UNB-SJ or Polytechnic. That’s the important observation people need to make. Andrew is not advocating that the campus be downgraded or changed. He is advocating that it be expanded and offer more options for students. How can you argue with that?

For the full story on what the task group recommended to the commission, check out this story from the Telegraph Journal: Create an educational powerhouse.

This has been a busy week. Since starting the “Don’t Boycott Moosehead!!!” group, the numbers have grown to over two hundred! I’ve received many encouraging messages and thanks from local people. I’m proud of the support and encouragement I have received thus far. The great news is that because of our show of support, I’ve been asked to answer questions for a story that will be published in The Baron, UNB-SJ’s student newspaper. The story will be looking at the “Boycott Moosehead” issue.

As I had stated to the person from the newspaper, I am expecting a fair and balanced article that is not biased against our group. Furthermore, I am publishing my answers to the questions ahead of time to ensure that it is quite clear where I stand before any articles are released. For your reading pleasure, I present to you “Why I’m not boycotting Moosehead”:

1) How did you hear about the “Boycott Moosehead” campaign?

I first heard about this when a friend joined the “Boycott Moosehead” group on Facebook. Once I read what the group was about, I immediately started a “Don’t Boycott Moosehead” group. I had no idea that my group would grow so quickly. Within two days, we had well over two hundred supporters. Our group understands that there is a difference between the person and the company. It is acceptable to disagree with the person; however, boycotting the company is not the way to handle the issue. It only sidetracks us the root problem – one recommendation in the education report.

2) How do you feel about the Boycott? Its premise? It’s future?

I feel that this boycott is nothing more then a way for people, who are angry with the report, to lash out at anything remotely related to the report. I also feel that this issue is being blown out of proportion. The group’s members are professors and students at UNB-SJ. These people should know first hand the contributions Moosehead have made in the past and in recent years. Keep in mind that Moosehead was a major driving force, in this community, that pushed to create the campus in Saint John.

Over the years, Moosehead has consistently made large contributions to both the infrastructure and students at UNB-SJ. These contributions include: countless scholarships, supporting UNB-SJ Athletics: Adopt-a-Seawolf Program, $480,000 in direct donations to UNB, $150,000 UNB-SJ Residence Fund, $150,000 UNB-SJ Student Centre, $50,000 Project: Venture, and most recently - $100,000 to UNB Forging the Future campaign (all of which has been dedicated to the Wallace McCain Centre at UNB-SJ’s King Square location). This does not include any money which the Oland family has given out of their own pocket. This money started flowing when the campus opened and has continued to this day. Why would Moosehead, a company who fought so hard to create this campus and invested hundreds of thousands of dollars, want to close or downgrade the campus?

3) What affect do you think the Boycott will have on Saint John if it becomes the popular position? On the Commission on Education report?

I am frightened that people in our community will think twice before working on task-groups and committees for fear of backlash to their employers. Is it fair to boycott a local company because an employee worked on a task group that submitted ideas to a commission that wrote a controversial report? To be perfectly clear, Andrew Oland is an employee of Moosehead. He is one of three presidents at the company. The final important note is that the task group he was a member of did not advocate turning UNB-SJ into a Polytechnic.

When working on groups, such as the task-group, you are representing yourself, not your company. As a community, we need to be encouraging people to get involved more often. This community desperately needs more local people driving the issues at the provincial level. Instead of criticizing the person after the fact, let’s encourage people to get involved early on to provide their ideas!

4) How do you feel about the Commission on Education, which this Boycott is one response to?

I do not want to see the University downgraded into a Polytechnic. I want to make that quite clear to any readers. I have also signed the petition going around on Facebook. I do believe; however, that the report needs to be looked at from an unbiased perspective from both sides. It will have been a waste of time and money if the entire report is ignored because of one recommendation. We need to take the good from the report and promote that just as much as protest the bad. It may not be as glamorous, but it’s necessary to show that we support improving the system where it can be improved. I also believe that we need to focus on critiquing the report and its recommendations, not the authors. It’s the recommendations that we should be arguing over, not who wrote it and who they work for. Let’s encourage healthy debate instead of silly boycotts!

Shawn Peterson

As I logged onto Facebook last night, I noticed something strange. My news feed showed that a friend has joined a “Boycott Moosehead!!!” group. That’s right, a group that wants people to boycott our local company. Why you might ask yourself. Did the company do something terrible? No, that’s not it. The real answer is because people are angry at Andrew Oland, President of Moosehead Quebec. He was the chair of the task force that released a controversial report on post-secondary education in New Brunswick last week. So there you have it - because people disagree with the report, they want to boycotting Moosehead. Pretty stupid logic isn’t it?

Here is what the group is saying on Facebook:

“Given the argument put forth by Andrew Oland, President of Moosehead Quebec, that there is too much duplication of academic programs in New Brunswick and his desire to destroy our university, I think we should let him know, in no uncertain terms, that we think that there is too much duplication of beer in the liquor stores and that we are going to choose to drink Keith’s or Labatt’s.”

Some of the comments by it’s members:

“Despite the fact that I don’t drink but I take strong exceptions to this statement and will not let any of my friends buy Moosehead when they are with me.” - Waleed Yousaf

“This really annoys me. I’ve always made it a point to drink the local beer. I’ve even gone so far as to use it as an example of multipliers and spending in class. Remember Moosehead owns many different brands. Read the label when buying.” - Jason Childs

My response? I’ll start my own Facebook group and call it “Don’t Boycott Moosehead!!!“. Why? To show support to a company that has done nothing wrong and supports so many community groups and causes. Moosehead is Canada’s oldest independent brewery and as Canada’s two largest brewers (Labatt & Molson) are now foreign-owned, Moosehead is also Canada’s largest 100% Canadian brewery. They are a company that Saint John can be proud of!

Here is what my group is all about:

“Given the argument put forth by the Boycott Moosehead group, on Facebook, that suggests we punish one of our greatest local companies because the President of Moosehead Quebec was involved in a study that they disagree with, I think we should show these idiots, in no uncertain terms, that we support Moosehead and that we are going to choose to drink Moosehead products as much as possible.

If you have a problem with Andrew Oland, let him know, but don’t mess with a great local company that supports our city in so many events and causes!”

In less then a day, our numbers have hit over one hundred! I would like to continue building support over the next week. My hope is that people will realize the difference between a company and a person and direct their complaints to the right place. Moosehead is a local company we can be proud of. I’ll raise this glass to them!

It first occurred for the first time several weeks ago. Now, it’s each time I try to update my copy of Windows Vista. What is it? It’s the dreaded error code 80073712!

So, like the average person, the first thing I did was wait for it to fix itself. Seriously, it’s shocking what can change after a reboot. After that failed, I set out to fix this issue myself. My first step was to search Google for the issue. The plus side? Lots of results to look at. The down side? It’s terrible that so many other people are having the same issue!

This week, the international community has adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This occurs despite high-profile opposition from Canada, New Zealand, United States, and Australia. Eleven other countries abstained. The declaration was non-binding and sets out global human rights standards for indigenous people.

Before the vote, Canada’s UN ambassador, John McNee, said Canada had “significant concerns” over the declaration’s wording on provisions addressing lands and resources, as well as another article calling on states to obtain prior informed consent with indigenous groups before enacting new laws or administrative measures. Article 26 of the UN declaration states: “Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired.”

McNee said the provision is “overly broad, unclear and capable of a wide variety of interpretations” that could lead to the reopening of previously settled land claims and existing treaties.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper had earlier expressed his concerns about the language the declaration contained. “We shouldn’t vote for things on the basis of political correctness; we should actually vote on the basis of what’s in the document,” Harper said.

I agree with the decision to vote no, and I applaud the Prime Minister for saying what everyone else is thinking. There are important issues that need to be addressed here and now - issues like health care, the environment, and education. I’m tired of arguing over what happened four-hundred years ago. Issues need to be addressed today in today’s context.

This is the 21st century, and I believe that the elected governments we have today are capable of making proper decisions that are fair for everyone - not just one group of people.

This Friday, the education report that everyone has been talking about was released. The report recommends merging universities and colleges in parts of the province to create polytechnic institutions. One such merger would be between UNB-SJ and NBCC-SJ right here in Saint John.

Like most people, the first thing I thought was, “what the hell is a polytechnic institution?” Well, not really, most people are saying this is the end of the world. There are newspaper articles, letters to the editor, and facebook groups popping up left and right. However, the one thing I don’t hear anyone actually talking about is what the good ideas are in the report.

Personally, I’m not sure whether a merger would be a good thing or not. But, what I do know is that both UNB-SJ and NBCC-SJ are solid institutions on their own, and they offer students a broad range of education options. I really think the more reasonable approach would be to include more integration between the two campuses. There should be more programs at each campus that offer credits at the other one. Earning your BA degree at UNB-SJ should count towards credits when starting a program at NBCC-SJ, and vice-versa. We will be further ahead, as a province, when we work together at the local level to make sure that students can get a good education at home! We can have the best institutions in the world, but, if the students in this region can’t take the courses they want, they will leave.

I still look forward to hearing more about the proposed plan; however, no matter how good of an idea it may be - at the end of the day, the public is not behind it, and no government wanting seats in this region will push that agenda!

There are many legitimate sites that, on first reading, appear to be using rude domain names. Often it is not until you take a second look that you realise that they can also be innocent. This is the list of the top 10:

1. Whorepresents
A site called ‘Who Represents‘ where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name… wait for it… is www.whorepresents.com.

2. Expertsexchange
Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at www.expertsexchange.com.

3. Penisland
Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at www.penisland.net.

4. Therapistfinder
Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at www.therapistfinder.com.

5. Powergenitalia
Then of course, there’s the Italian Power Generator company… www.powergenitalia.com.

6. Molestationnursery
And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales: www.molestationnursery.com.

7. Ipanywhere
If you’re looking for computer software, there’s always www.ipanywhere.com.

8. cummingfirst
Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is www.cummingfirst.com.

9. speedofart
Then, of course, there’s these brainless art designers, and their whacky website: www.speedofart.com.

10. gotahoe
Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at www.gotahoe.com.

Marc Mayrand, Canada’s chief electoral officer, today says that veiled women will not have to show their faces at polling stations in upcoming elections, but they may be asked for sworn statements in some situations to verify their identities. He also challenged politicians who have voiced their criticism of the policy to change the Elections Act if they want more stringent identification requirements on election day.

“I invite Parliament to change the act,” Mayrand told reporters Monday at a press conference in Ottawa.

Invite? You have to be kidding me! This spring parliament brought in a new law requiring visual identification of voters. This decision by Elections Canada is nothing more then a slap in the face of the elected officials in this country.

“I have asked election personnel to invite anyone whose face is concealed to uncover it in a manner that is respectful to their beliefs,” Maynard said.

Respectful to their beliefs? Beliefs should have NOTHING to do with any decisions being made with regards to our electoral process. I don’t care what you believe or who you believe in, everyone should be treated the same when it comes to voting! Nobody should be hiding their face for any religious reasons.

All of this comes after the same issue came up in Quebec’s election in March. Quebec’s chief returning officer, Marcel Blanchet, decided it was acceptable for Muslim women to keep their faces covered at the polls. That decision was later reversed, requiring women to show their faces when they voted.  The same result should occur for this decision.

I hope that the elected officials will stand up and keep religion out of the political process!

Elections Canada has decided to allow people to vote while having their face concealed based on religious beliefs. I find this totally unacceptable. I am more then willing to allow people to practice their beliefs; however, such tolerance does not imply that our core institutions should be influenced by any religious beliefs.

The electoral system in this country is one of the greatest things we have in our society. We can not allow changes because of one person’s religion - not in our secular society. Where does this end? Who can define what is religious or not? These are not questions that the electoral system should face - it should simply lay out the rules that everybody must follow. People must show their face and provide ID if requested. This is not asking a lot; but, it does mean that people who choose to move to this country and become citizens must accept.

This country provides such great opportunities for people because of the systems we have in place. People need to accept the laws we all live by. I would not move to Syria and expect them to change because of my beliefs. Why would they? Now ask yourself - why should we? The law is meant to be fair and free from religion. We can not allow anything to jeopardize that!

Stephen Harper is standing up to this ruling, I only hope that parliament will mobilize and prevent this from taking place.